Kids in Ohio taking state tests may still need pencils

State leaders are concerned about infrastructure and other test requirements

Ohio is rolling out online standardized tests this school year, but students will continue to do more than a third of the new assessments on paper with pencil.

The exams accompany new Common Core academic standards and were designed to be taken online; however, schools were allowed to use paper versions after many complained that they weren’t ready.

A recent state survey of Ohio schools obtained by The Dispatch found that 60 percent of the assessments in grades three through eight will be done online, and 40 percent will be completed with paper and pencil; and 64 percent of school end-of-course exams will be done online and 36 percent with paper and pencil.

Eighty-two percent of Ohio’s 614 school districts responded to the survey by the state Department of Education.